Horse-blanket.



A. H. KINDER.

HORSE BLANKET.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 2. 1911.

Patented Mar. 14, 1916.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ARTHUR H. KINDER, OF DOBCI-IESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR '10 L. G. CHASE 80 (10., OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A FIRM.

HORSE-BLANKET.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ARTHUR H. KINDER, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Dorchester, county of Suffolk, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Horse-Blankets, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawing, is a specification,

' like characters on the drawing representing like parts. 7

This-invention has for its object the production of a horse-blanket of novel construction whereby overlapping breast portions of large area are provided without waste of material, the construction of the breast portions being such that they are substantially self-supporting when in overlapped position.

Blankets have been made heretofore with elongated portions to overlap and more or less protect the breast of the animal, but not only has there been waste in cutting the blanket to provide such portions but in the finished blanket such breast portions have a tendency to drop orsag down. To overcome this tendency recourse has been had to fastening means which not only connect the breast flaps but serve to stiffen and hold the latter in position, such fastening means greatly increasing the cost of the blanket and also adding unduly to its weight.

Agaimthe breast flaps have heretofore been of comparatively small area, diminishing the protection to the animal where itis most needed, and previous attempts to increase the protective area have resulted in a decrease in the neck opening for a given size of blanket, which is of itself objectionable, or in an increase in the waste of material in cutting.

In my present invention 1 have so shaped the forward edge of each blanket side that it presents a reverse contour line, preferably a curve, from the upper to the lower edge,

the concave upper part of the contour line forming one side of the neck opening and the oppositely turned lower, or convex part of the contour line forming a part of the boundary ofthe breast portion or flap. By

this construction the two sides or halves of the blanket present breast portions of large area, without any objectionable variations in the neck opening, andthe shape of the A breast flap causes it to be in a 'sense self supporting. That is, instead of a'tendency two reversed halves.

So, too, in cutting the.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented M 14 1916 Application filed November 2, 1911. Serial No. 658,122.

vto drop orsag when the breast flaps are d eliminate all waste, and in fact save from sin'to twelve inches of fabric in cutting, in

the preferred form of my invention. The various novel features of my invention will be fully described in the subjoined specification and particularly pointed out in the following claims.

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a horseblanket embodying my present invention,

the breast portions being overlapped in the position occupied when the blanket is in use; Fig. 2 is adetail in side elevation of the forward end of the blanket, the sides thereof being superposed and spread out fiat; Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic View showing the blankand the manner of dividing it to provide two like but reversed halves or blanket-sides, without waste, in accordance with my nvention; Fig l is a detail sh0wmg a sllghtly modified form of contour or dividing line, whereby the two sides of the blanket are the same butreversed when out from the blank.

In the oldmethod of cutting blankets. a

strip of fabric equal in width to the depth of the desired blanket is divided by two equal and parallel cuts extended inward fromand at right angles to opposite longitudinal edges of the blank, said cuts meeting two oppositely curved cuts, to form the This method of cuttingresults in three pieces of waste, which waste is only increased by an attempt to increase the breast flaps, and in addition the neck opening of the completed blanket is varied'improperly Such elongation of the breast flaps will only increase the tendency thereof to drop or sag'when the blanket is in use. Again, the total length of the blank must be greater than double the length of a predetermined blanketby an amount ,de

, pending on the size of the waste pieces made between adjacent straight and curved cuts,

thus taking up. more fabric than can be used. 1 As blankets are cut by superposing 7 a large number of; plies of fabric it will be obvious that the waste is a serious item.

Referring to Fig. 3, the elongated rectangular. blankG is twice the totallength of the blanket to be cut, and the width of the I blank is equal to the depth of the blanket. In the preferred formof my invention this blank is divided by a continuous symmetrical and reversely curved out extending-from one to the other longitudinal edge of the blank, the two lo o, c of the said out be ing symmetrically disposed on opposite sides of a diagonal line (Z, d, and of equal length and curvature. The reverse curve 0, 0

crosses or intersects this line at the point 0* midway between the ends thereof and also midway between the opposite ends of the blank 0, and it will be seen that the point (Z is at a distance from either end of the blank equal to the distance of the point cl from the other end of said blank. Consequently the blank is divided into two symmetrical but reversed halves C, D; without. any

wastewhatever, the portion 0 forming one side of the neck opening for the half C" and bounding the forward edge of the breast portion or flap D of the half D while the portion 0 of the contour or dividing line forms one side of the neck opening of the half D and bounds the forward edge of the breast portion C of the half C". If the fabric from which'the halves are thus cut is alike on each face the halves C" and D can beat once superposed and connected by a usual back seam, and finished up in usual manner forming no part of my invention. In practice, however, blanket fabric has a rig it face and a wrong face, and it is usual to lay eight or ten, or more, plies of the fabric one upon another and out out the pattern by a power cutter, eachtwo adjacent plies of fabric being oppositely faced; and

when that done it will be manifest that for every two such plies the divisioncut o, a Fig. 3, will provide the sides for two blankets. without any waste. 7

The waste heretofore made has been a serious item, and when it is understood that by my invention I save on each cutting a strip of fabric from six to twelve inches wide, depending upon the size of the blanket, it will be apparent that the saving in fabric alone by my invention is very large. Viewing Fig. 1 it will be seen that the completed blanket comprises two like sides or halves E, 1* each having its forward ing the forward edges of the extended breast" portions or flaps E F of large area.

In Fig. 1 the outer breast flap F is broken out to show a part of the breast flap E", be neath it.

The overlapped breast portionsv E F 1 provide a double thickness or covering of a or joining part k intersects the diagonal:

large area over the breast of the horse at the point where such protection. is most essential, and owiml,- to the contour of the front edge of each blanket side the breast flaps instead of falling or sagging downward: are held substantially in a. position. shown in Fi 1 with their lower straight edges 6X, f substantially in a straight line. In other words, the breast flaps are self-supporting and tend when overlapped to stayin proper position instead of tending to sag downward.

By reason of the tendencyof the breast flaps to remain in proper, position, I am enabled to use very simple fastening'members; Here-in I have shown a. separable two-part fastening comprising a loop member 1 and a detachable snap hook member 9, and'I find that a pair of such two-part fastenings is all sufficient the loop members 9 being at-' tached to one breast flap as F, Fig; 1, near its curved and forward edge, and the cooperating members 9. are attached to the other flap E at the proper height from the lower edge of the blanket side, and at such a distance from its curved edge e that when the flaps are overlapped the fastening devices can be hooked. together.

Fastening members of the general type shown are extremely cheap, they are verylight in -weight and bytheir means the breast flaps can be readily attached or de tached as desired.

If a blanket is made in accordance with my present invention and the two sides arel laid out flat one upon the other, the forward reversely and symmetrically curved edges will superpose one upon the other'as shown:

in Fig. 2.

The large area of the, breast portions. 50f

the blanket in accordance with my invention; 1s secured wlthout any lmproper decrease in the neck opening, for any glven SIZE blanket,

and without any waste whatever in cutting the material as has been pointed out hereinbefore, and as the breast flaps are substantially self-sustaining the function of the fastening members is merely to hold them in V overlapped position upon" the horse, and not to sustainthem. vertically in proper position:

As has been stated I prefer to form the dividing line or cut as a continuous reverse and symmetrical curve; not'only for convene ience in cutting but also because the appear-' anoe of the finished blanket is attractiveiand' shown as composed of several straight p0r-- tions it, h, if, the portions h,,h being of equal length and extended in parallelism inv opposite directions from the opposite ends of the diagonal line In; k, while the middle line at k, midway between its upper an lower ends.

The portion of the dividing line from the upper end to the center of the line la, la is symmetrical to but reversed with relation to the portion of the dividing line from the center of the line is, 70 to its lower end, so that there is no waste in cutting, and the forward edge of each blanket side will present a symmetrical reverse contour line, for the neck opening and breast flaps of the finished blanket. 7

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A horse blanket having two sides of the same size and shape united at their upperedges by aback scam, the forward edge of each side presenting a continuous reversely formed contour line extending from the upperto the lower edge of the side and symmetrical with respect to its central point, whereby there is provided a neck opening and two similar extended breast portions which, when the blanket is in place, overlap and are sustained in proper position with their loweredges in substantial alinement by reason of the contour of the forward edges, and whereby, by reason of the symmetrical reversely formed contour of the forward edges of the sides, the said edges,

when the sides are reversed, match, thus enabling the sides to be out without waste of material, and means detachably to connect said breast portions.

2. A horse blanket having two sides of the same size and shape united at their upper edges by a back seam, the forward edge of each side presenting a continuous reversely curved contour line extending from the upper to the lower edge of the side and symmetrical with respect to its central point, whereby there is provided a neck opening and two. similar extended breast portions c which, when the blanket is in place, overlap and are sustained 1n proper position with their lower edges in substantial alinement by reason of the contour of the forward edges, andjwhereby, by reason of the sym- Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. i 

